TAKE with里克·克莱因
总统唐纳德·特朗普周二，密歇根州遭遇了一场对电视新闻的常见抱怨。
“有了它们，你就不能看别的东西了，”他说。“你打开–COVID，COVID，COVID，COVID，COVID，COVID。COVID，COVID，COVID。COVID!”
当然，报道是有原因的。新的美国广播公司新闻/华盛顿邮报周三上午的民调显示，COVID的看法对这场比赛产生了广泛的影响，尤其是在几个可能最重要的州。
奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂影像公司
2020年10月27日，密歇根州兰辛，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在首都国际机场的竞选集会上向成千上万的支持者发表讲话时，抬头看着雨。
前副总统乔·拜登以57比40领先特朗普威斯康星州，密歇根52-46。这是一个相当大的领先优势，在两个关键州还有不到一周的时间，威斯康星州的数字本身就引人注目，因为它显示出比最近其他民调更大的优势。
有一件事特别推动了威斯康星的故事:流行病。该州正处于全面改革之中冠状病毒危机，创造了新的住院记录，在人均病例数上名列前茅。
吉姆·沃森/法新社通过盖蒂图像
民主党总统候选人乔·拜登在佐治亚州温泉的山顶酒店发表讲话。，2020年10月27日。
总统对威斯康星州疫情的处理落后20个百分点，在这个问题上，拜登比特朗普更受信任，相差20个百分点。民意调查显示，特朗普在威斯康星州郊区选民中的支持率越来越高，尤其是与密歇根州相比。
民调还显示，特朗普在威斯康星州和密歇根州的老年人中分别落后24个百分点和12个百分点。根据投票后民调，四年前他在两个州都以微弱优势赢得了65岁及以上的选民。
拜登可以通过重建蓝墙赢得总统大选——威斯康辛州、密歇根州和宾夕法尼亚州——不带一个川普其他州。它最终可能会在特朗普总统任期内的危机的帮助下得到重建。
的纲要玛丽·爱丽丝·帕克斯
担心为时已晚缺席选举人票在邮件里?
密歇根州国务卿乔斯林·本森星期二说，她建议选民自己投票。
“现在重要的是归还你们的选票亲自。不要依赖邮件。不管你在哪个州，在你所在州的截止日期前把你的选票投进去，”本森告诉美国广播公司新闻直播的主要主持人林西·戴维斯。
至少在今年38个州将有指定的投票箱供选民亲自投下选票，在几乎所有的州，选民也可以在县书记办公室投下缺席选票。
泰德·沃伦/美联社
2020年10月27日，在选举日的一周前，西雅图白色中心附近的一个图书馆里，一名男子将选票放入投票箱。
此外，在大多数州，如果选民要求缺席投票，他们实际上可以改变主意，亲自投票，但如何做到这一点有不同的规则。在某些情况下，选民可能只能得到一张临时选票。
根据美国投票基金会，在15个州如果一个选民改变主意，要求缺席投票，但现在想亲自投票，他或她将不得不带来他们的缺席投票，并“交出”他们。
该组织写道，“在所有情况下，我们建议坚持您最初的投票计划——如果您要求并收到缺席投票，最好投票。在我们的选举制度已经面临巨大压力的一年里，改变你的想法会给投票工作人员和选举官员带来额外的工作。”
小费肯德尔·胡炬雄
军团早期选民反映出决定性的选民，急于表达他们是否认为特朗普值得连任。今年，已经投票的大约6960万选民是四年前总投票人数的一半以上，这是选举中的一个重要标志，还有几天。
尽管特朗普周二声称，一些选民不那么果断，在第二次辩论后疯狂地试图改变他们的投票，使之对他有利，但他错误地说，大多数州允许改变主意的选民重新投票。
伊莱·哈特曼/美联社
2020年10月13日，星期二，德克萨斯州敖德萨，选民们在艾斯五金商店外排队，等待德克萨斯州提前投票的第一天。
在大规模转向邮寄投票的过程中，只有少数几个州允许选民改变他们的投票在他们投票之后。密歇根州、威斯康星州、明尼苏达州、纽约州、新罕布什尔州和康涅狄格州的部分地区允许选民“破坏”他们的投票并重新投票，但每个州都有不同的规则和截止日期。在明尼苏达州，截止日期已经过了。
一些选举官员也反对总统关于选民正在改变主意的说法。密歇根州国务卿的发言人说，大多数选民要求破坏他们的选票是因为印刷问题和其他与选票有关的错误，而不是因为选民改变了主意。其他官员警告说，总统的言论可能会加剧混乱缺席投票如此接近截止日期。
“如果有人破坏了他们的选票，他们会及时得到新的选票吗?还剩五天?密歇根州吉纳塞县办事员约翰·格里森告诉美国广播公司新闻，他正在设置另一个障碍，以便及时收回选票。
还有一件事
冠状病毒病例的激增损害了唐纳德·特朗普总统在威斯康星州的连任竞选，对他在这一流行病上的工作的批评越来越多，并倾向于前副总统乔·拜登来处理这一问题。拜登在密歇根州略占优势，在女性、温和派和无党派人士中遥遥领先美国广播公司新闻/华盛顿邮报两个州的民意调查。
The Note: COVID disconnect looms over Trump in Midwest
The TAKE withRick Klein
PresidentDonald Trumphit Michigan Tuesday with what's already become a familiar complaint about TV news.
"With them, you can't watch anything else," he said. "You turn on – COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID, COVID, COVID. COVID!"
There's a reason, of course, for the coverage. And newABC News/Washington Postpolling out Wednesday morning shows how extensively COVID perceptions are impacting the race -- particularly in a few states that are likely to matter the most.
President Donald Trump looks up at the rain as he addresses thousands of supporters during a campaign rally at Capital Region International Airport Oct. 27, 2020, in Lansing, Mich.
Former Vice President Joe Biden leads Trump 57-40 among likely voters inWisconsin, and 52-46 in Michigan. That's a sizable lead with less than a week to go in both critical states, with the Wisconsin number striking on its own because it shows a larger margin than other recent polls.
One thing driving the story in Wisconsin in particular: the pandemic. The state is in the midst of a full-oncoronavirus crisis, setting new records for hospitalizations and sitting near the top of the list for per capita cases.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at The Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Warm Springs, Ga., Oct. 27, 2020.
The president is 20 points underwater on his handling of the pandemic in Wisconsin, and Biden is trusted more than Trump on the subject by a similar 20 points. The poll shows Trump's support among suburban voters cratering in Wisconsin, particularly in comparison to Michigan.
The polling also shows Trump trailing among seniors in Wisconsin by 24 points and in Michigan by 12 points. He carried voters 65 and older narrowly in both states four years ago, according to exit polls.
Biden can win the presidency by rebuilding the blue wall -- Wisconsin, Michigan andPennsylvania-- without carrying a single other Trump state. It might wind up being rebuilt with help from the crisis that has defined Trump's presidency.
The RUNDOWN withMaryAlice Parks
Worried it is too late to get thatabsentee ballotin the mail?
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Tuesday said she is advising voters to drop their ballots off themselves.
"It's now important to return your ballotsin person. Don't rely on the mail. Regardless of what state you're in, get your ballots in by your state's deadline," Benson told ABC News Live Prime Anchor Linsey Davis.
In at least38 states this yearthere will be designated dropboxes for voters to drop off their ballots in person and in almost all states voters can drop off absentee ballots at county clerk offices too.
A man puts a ballot in a drop box, Oct. 27, 2020, at a library in Seattle's White Center neighborhood a week before election day.
More, in most states voters can in fact change their mind and vote in person if they requested an absentee ballot, but there are different rules about how to do that. And in some cases voters might only be given a provisional ballot.
According to the U.S. Vote Foundation,in 15 statesif a voter who changes his or her mind and requested an absentee ballot but now wants to vote in person, he or she will have to bring in their absentee ballots and "surrender" them.
The organization writes, "In all cases, we recommend sticking to your original voting plan -- if you requested and received an absentee ballot, it is best to vote that ballot. Changing your mind creates additional work for poll workers and election officials in a year when there is already significant pressure on our election system."
The TIP withKendall Karson
The legion ofearly votersreflect a decisive electorate, anxious to express whether they believe Trump deserves a second term. And this year, the roughly 69.6 million voters who have already cast their vote is more than half of the total turnout from four years ago -- a significant marker in the election with still days to go.
Despite Trump's claim on Tuesday that some voters are less decisive, frantically trying to change their votes in his favor after the second debate, he wrongly said that most states allow for voters with a change of heart to recast a ballot.
Voters wait in line outside of an Ace Hardware store in Odessa, Texas, for the first day of early voting in Texas on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020.
Amid the massive shift to mail voting, only a handful of states allow for voters tochange their voteafter they have already voted. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire and parts of Connecticut allow voters to "spoil" their ballot and re-vote, but each state is guided by different rules and deadlines. In Minnesota, the deadline has already passed.
Some election officials are also pushing back against the president's assertion that voters are having a change of heart. A spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state said that most voters requesting to spoil their ballots are due to printing issues and other ballot-related errors -- not because voters have changed their mind. Other officials are warning the president's rhetoric may compound confusion overabsentee votingso close to deadlines.
"If someone spoils their ballot, will they get a new one back in time? With five days left? (The president) is putting up another obstacle to have a ballot returned in a timely fashion," John Gleason, the Genessee County clerk in Michigan, told ABC News.
ONE MORE THING
A surge in coronavirus cases has damaged President Donald Trump's re-election campaign in Wisconsin, with growing criticism of his work on the pandemic and preference for former Vice President Joe Biden to handle it. Biden holds a slighter advantage in Michigan, with sizable leads among women, moderates and independents inABC News/Washington Postpolls in both states.
The PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" podcast.Wednesday morning's episode features ABC News' Eva Pilgrim in Philadelphia, where the death of a Black man at the hands of police has set off protests. ABC News Supreme Court contributor Kate Shaw brings us up to date on voting-related lawsuits across the country. And ABC News Senior White House correspondent Cecilia Vega explains which issues matter most to Latinx voters this election cycle.http://apple.co/2HPocUL
ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger joins ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.https://bit.ly/3jXffaT
